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Because therapies at Bridges are based on the DIR model, a primary goal of all therapies at Bridges is to support the relationship between a child and his or her caregivers. These relationships become a vehicle for learning across a lifetime. In addition, a core component of a comprehensive program is the home program. In order to implement a cohesive home program, parents must attend sessions to learn the strategies that will support their child's development. For these reasons, parent participation is required at Bridges. We work with each family individually to determine the optimal amount of parent participation in order to maximize the child's progress and implementation of the home program.
While many families may be referred to Bridges as a result of developmental, academic or neurological assessments, families do not need a referral to initiate therapy at Bridges. Any parent or caregiver who has a concern about their child's developmental or regulatory capacities may contact Bridges for an assessment. Informational meetings are set-up in order to provide parents with general information about the Bridges Program. After attending this informational session, parents are invited to contact Bridges for an appointment for an assessment.
Bridges provides comprehensive individualized programming for children from birth to 7 years of age.
However, Bridges serves children older than 7 years of age through its
clinic-based program in order to provide continuity of services as children
transition into different programs or stages in their lives.
Bridges does operate year round with the exception of holidays and training days.
All Bridges professional staff members have or are in the process of obtaining certification in DIR through the ICDL organization.
At this time, Bridges is not a school. Rather, it is a comprehensive therapeutic program that provides floortime, speech and language, occupational and physical therapy for children with developmental challenges and their families. Through warm and joyous relationships, children are challenged to learn to be regulated, attentive and engaged in order to learn through interactions with others. For children at Bridges, learning occurs experientially through many interactions throughout the day, whether the focus is on simple problem solving, reasoning or emotional thinking.
Specific academic skills are addressed on an individualized basis as needed at the Bridges Program. It is a goal for every child and family to help strengthen the processing capacities that underlie a child's ability to read, write and execute mathematical problems. At the base of all higher-level thinking and reasoning tasks is a child's ability to be calm in his or her body and pay attention to others. This is the core focus upon which all floortime sessions are conducted. Through specific work with occupational and physical therapists, a child's sensory-motor profile is observed. Each clinician uses this information to entice a child into spontaneous interactions that support a child's ability and desire to achieve an interactive flow of communication and solve simple problems with others. Once a child can consistently achieve a continuous flow of back and forth communication with a parent or caregiver, the child is challenged to think and become more logical in an interactive manner.
Yes, Bridges provides services to any child who has developmental delays that affect his or her ability to maintain a calm and attentive state, engage in meaningful relationships, communicate his or her needs effectively and engage in age-appropriate problem-solving and reasoning tasks.
 
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